Democratic Erosion University Course Student Blog

Students enrolled in our course are encouraged to write for the course blog, and to read and comment on posts from students at other participating universities. The blog offers students the opportunity to analyze current events through the lens of the theory and case studies they engage with through the course.

Arresting Opposition and Squashing Protests: Democratic Backsliding in Turkey Under Erdoğan

Turkey has been inching towards autocracy under Erdoğan and the AKP for the last 22 years.

2025 Romanian Elections: An Election Redo and a Barred Candidate

Only two weeks out from Presidential Elections, Romanian voters face a tough decision in deciding on the next leader of their country. The latest opinion polls show that nearly 40% of voters are still undecided on who to vote for. After all, most voters already cast...

Why Protecting American Democracy Means Coming Together In Protest

In the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, the Democratic Erosion Consortium's very own professors Robert Blair and Steven Rosenzweig wrote an article in The Boston Globe urging readers to “Get ready to protest like democracy depends on it.” The article was in...

Unprecedented Democratic Backsliding in Hungary: Is it Too Late to Turn Around?

Nov 25, 2022 | Boston University

When Russia launched its barbaric invasion on Ukraine, many expected a silver lining to emerge in which the Russian aggressor would become a catalyst for European states to...

Democracy’s Last Stand in the Middle East: Kais Saied’s Tunisia

Nov 25, 2022 | Boston University

The 2010 revolution in Tunisia did more than just birth the Arab Spring, it birthed democracy for the first time in the country’s history. Previously under Ottoman and...

What do Populists and Reformers Have in Common in This Year’s European Elections? The Environment

Apr 29, 2019 | American University

by Sarah Ampolsk In observing the elections that have taken place on the European continent thus far in 2019, two countries stand out. The first is Slovakia, one of the four central European...

Banning Abortion

Apr 29, 2019 | Georgia State University

By: Elizabeth Perez I chose the article “How Banning Abortion in the Early Weeks of Pregnancy Suddenly Became Mainstream” I think that in general many states or even worldwide this has been a topic...

Texas Voter ID Laws as an Exercise of Stealth Authoritarianism by Ryan Fleishman

Apr 29, 2019 | University of Chicago

In his essay Stealth Authoritarianism, Ozan Varol posits “Laws that regulate voter registration, which exist in virtually all democratic nations to ensure electoral fairness, afford the opportunity...

The Danger of Surface-Level Populism by Radhika Upadhye

Apr 29, 2019 | University of Chicago

In recent years, a number of countries around the world have given rise to strongmen political leaders who many consider to be...

Running Against Populism, by Ronen Schatsky

Apr 29, 2019 | University of Chicago

Democrats are lining up to run against President Trump, and they will be confronting a unique challenge. Not only are they running against an incumbent president, a historically difficult feat, but...

Gerrymandering: Legalized and Systematic Democratic Erosion by Megha Bhattacharya

Apr 29, 2019 | University of Chicago

The term “populism” has seemingly oversaturated the American political vocabulary overnight. And yet, populist movements have defined the world stage for generations. Just within the last three...

Putin: a Populist or a Stealth Authoritarian? – By Julia Fischer

Apr 29, 2019 | University of Chicago

In the article, “How Democracies Fall Apart,” Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Erica Frantz name various populist leaders that have come to power since the end of the Cold War, and they discuss how these...

Egypt’s Constitutional Referendum: a Cautionary Tale for a Post-Arab Springs World by Clara Fong

Apr 29, 2019 | University of Chicago

Amidst the Arab Spring Movement in 2011, Egypt was one of several in the region to successfully overthrow their government, igniting inspiration of a democratic future. Today, however, the...

What the Fukuyama? by Selena Spencer

Apr 29, 2019 | University of Chicago

This piece argues against Francis Fukuyama's famous piece "The End of History". In February 1989 at the University of Chicago in room 122 of the Social Science Research Building, Francis Fukuyama...